


a lesson in orbit

by penowl



Series: astronomy lessons [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt Remus Lupin, Hurt/Comfort, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Mostly Canon Compliant, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Overprotective Sirius Black, POV Remus Lupin, Panic Attacks, Protective Sirius Black, References to Depression, Remus Lupin Lives, Remus Lupin has Anxiety, Remus probably does too lbr, Remus still thinks Sirius is extremely hot, Sirius Black Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius Black has PTSS - Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, Unrequited Love, Werewolf Remus Lupin, bc they deserve it, but only like at the end, or so he thinks, rip jily, set mostly during and a little after the prisoner of azkaban
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22451251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penowl/pseuds/penowl
Summary: Sirius always had this magnetism about him. Remus always resisted... until it was too late to even matter. Then again, he certainly hadn't counted on the force that was James and Lily's son, either.Aka Remus reminisces about things sadly and is very sad until Harry Potter and Sirius Black do something about it.**ON HIATUS**The Backstreet Boys Reunion tour with a sprinkle of mental health problems delayed me from continuing this story. Never fear! I'm still working on it (as well as some other projects) and you'll probably see some big edits very soon. Stay safe everybody!
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: astronomy lessons [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788310
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. right place, wrong time (prologue)

It was still dark when Remus arrived at platform nine-and-three-quarters.

The transition from sleepy Muggle King’s Cross to the impressive vehicle before him was more than a little disconcerting. He took in the Hogwarts Express for the first time in several years: still the same gleaming scarlet.

He didn't know what he expected, instead. That she'd be blue now? Just like that?

Remus watched in blank awe as soft smoke curled and shifted around the warm shaft of light at her center. Perhaps it was more that he had gotten so used to everything familiar just... vanishing. The last time he was here felt like two lifetimes ago.

 _I don’t think I can do this, after all,_ he thought abruptly. His chilled fingers clenched tighter around his battered trunk handle in response. 

Dumbledore had offered a direct Floo connection straight to his new office. Why had Remus refused, again? And perhaps less importantly (depending on how you looked at it), why hadn’t Dumbledore been surprised? 

Because Remus was a self-pitying old git. Naive enough to think the cruel twinges of nostalgia would no longer affect him. The memories of the happiest years of his life were already clamoring for attention, his mouth drying at the bittersweetness of it all.

 _I should climb in._ The shadows of the station were now becoming recognizable in the early morning. Soon, the platform would be filled to bursting with the thousands of young students, families, and overwhelmed animals. 

And Remus’s feet were somehow still cemented to the floor, just like that time when James and Siriu-

When-

Remus closed his eyes and let loose a shuddering breath. A small, strong voice from somewhere deep inside told him sternly: _You_ can _do this_. A light breeze from nowhere ruffled his hair, and the smell of coal smoke filled his lungs like an old friend.

He opened his eyes, strode to the end of the fifth car down, and climbed in.


	2. first encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus meets both Potters for the first time.

His heart was going to leap out of his throat at any second. At any second, the train conductor would barge in and demand that he get out before he called the Aurors. At any second, a team of Aurors would spill in and arrest him at wand-point before they even left the station. Remus clutched his school bag closer to his chest, frozen by the window, aside from the knocking of his bare knees. At any second, someone would notice that he  _ did not belong. _

“Oi. You ok, mate?” 

Remus let out a small yelp and whipped his head around, wide-eyed. 

Two boys were standing in front of his compartment, staring at him. One was shorter, with unruly dark hair, brown skin, and round glasses. The other had shoulder-length hair so black it made the shadows under his eyes stand stark against his pale skin. 

Remus stared back. 

The boy with the glasses frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with the taller one before stepping into the compartment. 

“Mate?” 

The taller one let out a big sigh before shoving past and throwing himself onto the seat across from Remus, lounging in a way that took up as much space as possible.

“Relax, James,” he said in a princely, posh kind of way. “I doubt there’s a first-year around who doesn’t feel somewhat peaked.”

James scoffed. “Even you, Sirius?” He had turned around to shove his trunk in the compartment above Remus so he missed the brief twist of dread that crossed Sirius’ mouth. As fleeting as it was, it did make Remus feel slightly better. 

James plopped next to Remus with a grin. “I met this prat around five minutes ago. Stepped on some girl’s foot and somehow  _ she  _ ended up apologizing to him. He’s got looks like some of us have-” 

Remus never did find out what it was that they had because James was interrupted by the shrill whistle of departure. The train lurched, and Remus looked out the window as the station started to slowly slide away. Before he knew it, the grey blur that was London was replaced by miles of rolling green that grew brighter as the sun rose. 

Their compartment remained quiet for a few minutes, with Sirius dozing and Remus looking out the window and James coaxing shy conversation from him. James had a steady surplus of questions, it seemed. Remus felt that he could tell James every single detail that he could recall about his twelve years of life so far and it still wouldn’t satisfy his curiosity. 

Remus remembered wondering how fast they’d run once they discovered his true nature. He had no way of knowing that for the likes of James and Sirius, the thought wouldn’t even cross their mind. 

* 

The cold woke Remus before the topic (and volume) of the conversation did. 

The train had stopped. Hogwarts was still leagues away. And Remus couldn’t feel his nose. 

Remus had been keeping up with the Prophet ever since he found out about… he had found out about Azkaban. He knew what was coming aboard, what was gliding, peering,  _ searching  _ at this very moment _. _ Dementors didn’t unsettle Remus. The boy sitting next to him, however, was another story. 

_ Harry.  _ Of all the bloody coincidences. Remus had certainly wasted hours of fretting about how he would introduce himself to Harry Potter before the realization struck him one sleepless night that this was  _ James and Lily’s son.  _ No matter how utterly Muggle his upbringing could have been, Harry would still turn out to be just as stubborn and inquisitive and impulsive and  _ good.  _ If not more. 

The compartment door slid open and Remus opened his eyes. The dementor slowly swiveled its head. Harry and his two friends fell silent and stared as its black hood stopped abruptly at Harry and Remus’s side. Remus slowly withdrew his wand from his sleeve. He would have been aware of the faintest whiff of dog at any point during this trip but that didn’t mean  _ Padfoot  _ couldn’t have brushed up against Harry earlier on… Still. Something was odd about the way the dementor seemed to be fixated on Harry, drifting further into the compartment, rotted hands emerging from the folds of its cloak...

Harry stiffened with a gasp and crumpled to the ground. 

_ “Expecto Patronum!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can expect more (conscious) Harry next chapter :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! My writing style is still very much developing...


End file.
